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NewsGlobe: Commentary
IPTV’s new social life
Thanks to broadband-based network infrastructure, IPTV is perfectly positioned for social networking
by Marc Savoie, Vice President of Product Management, Mariner
As today’s business world becomes increasingly global and competitive, communication methods and tools must adapt to enable more accessible, fast-paced interaction. The biggest recent trend in business communication is the increased reliance on social media and networking. Companies in all sectors are looking for ways to utilize social media and capitalize on its many business advantages.
The increasing momentum of social media and networking tools presents tremendous opportunities for the IPTV industry. Given its broadband-based network infrastructure and interactive nature, IPTV is a perfectly positioned vehicle for the incorporation of social networking. If the industry can overcome a few key obstacles, it could be able to make incredible use of this business tool.
Social Networking Explosion
It’s not difficult to see how social media has revolutionized both business and personal communication in recent years. According to the Nielsen Company, the amount of time Americans spent on social networks grew by a whopping 83 percent between April 2008 and April 2009. Quick, informal communication tools like Twitter are creeping in and replacing former “quick communication” tools, like email. In fact, Nielsen found that Americans spent a total of 300 million minutes communicating through Twitter in April 2009, as opposed to 7.9 million minutes spent using the site in April 2008. Trends like these have propelled social networking’s recent popularity, helping it surpass email in terms of time spent online.
In addition to changing how we communicate, the advent of social networking sites has also hugely affected the way in which we spend our leisure time. Time spent online as a whole has increased significantly in recent years. Nielsen estimates a 5.7 percent increase in the time Americans spent online between September 2007 and September 2008, while time spent watching TV increased only 4.1 percent during the same period. In addition, digital measuring company comScore found that Americans watched 12.7 billion online videos during November 2008, representing a 34 percent increase from the previous year.
While these trends could seem alarming for the TV industry, they also hold enormous potential for IPTV providers to merge social networking and online experiences with television. Social networking offers TV watchers a new level of viewing experience, allowing viewers in different locations to interact while watching their favorite programs from the comfort of their own homes. It turns an activity that was previously somewhat isolating into an interactive experience, allowing viewers to enjoy programs together even if they’re housebound or separated by distance.
The IPTV industry is currently in a healthy business position and continued growth is expected. Research and Markets, an international market research firm, estimates that the global IPTV market will reach 80 million by 2012. Similarly, Multimedia Research Group predicts global IPTV subscriber numbers will increase from 26.7 million, as recorded in May 2009, to 81 million in 2013, equating to a compound annual growth rate of 32 percent. With the health of the industry strong and the amount of subscribers on the rise, now is the ideal time for the IPTV industry to take advantage of the booming online and social media craze. However, before complete social media integration can be achieved in the space, the IPTV industry must first overcome some specific challenges.
Challenges
First, there are several technical issues that must be addressed before social networking in the IPTV space can become a feasible reality. One obstacle is the presence of walled garden environments. These environments are designed to control what content and services a web user is allowed to access by helping direct navigation by either enabling or preventing access to certain material. Some service providers have successfully repurposed internet content for their IPTV subscribers, but the current IPTV internet portals are only tapping into a very small portion of the internet content available.
Another technical obstacle to the incorporation of social media is the need for more advanced set top boxes. The set top boxes currently used by the industry do not posses sufficient rich browser capabilities to support the interactive interfaces that social networking sites typically render. Without a change in technology, the incorporation of social networking tools would lead to significant user interface rendering issues due to browser limitations in most of the IPTV set top boxes deployed today.
In addition to technical barriers, the IPTV industry also faces certain business and service challenges that must be addressed before complete social media integration can occur. One such service challenge is that currently most internet pages cannot be displayed or navigated on television, which prevents them from being shared in the living room setting. Clearly, this is something that must change before social networking tools can reach their full potential in the space. There are several business challenges that must be addressed as well, such as how this service will be financed. One possibility is to use revenue generated by interactive and targeted advertisements.
Given the already interactive nature of the IPTV industry, the incorporation of social networking tools seems like a logical technology partnership and a clear next step, especially given the healthy state of the IPTV industry and recent social networking and online trends. If IPTV service providers can overcome the specific challenges outlined above, they will have the chance to take advantage of a booming market sector. The incorporation of social media tools into the IPTV space holds the potential for great financial profit and also opens countless new doors in the IPTV and telecom sectors. In today’s world, both business and personal communication is increasingly driven by social media tools. Embracing these trends is not only a smart business move, but it could also pave a new way forward for the IPTV industry as a whole.
Marc Savoie is vice president of product management for Mariner. Marc is responsible for managing the delivery of the IPTV industry's first monitoring solution focused on the actual customer's experience, xVu TV Care. In his last role at Nortel Networks, Marc was part of the leadership team responsible for delivering Nortel's Multi-service Provider Edge product family as the leader of the system verification team. Throughout his career, Marc has refined his ability for managing multi-site and cross-functional projects by working on a wide-range of product development projects ranging from small start-up to large multi-national R&D ventures.
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